Thirteen public officials have been arrested in 3 separate Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission investigations in recent days, involving alleged bribe-taking at Harare’s main airport, duplicate travel claims by Ministry of Local Government staff and irregular clearance of 2 luxury vehicles at Plumtree Border Post.
The latest arrests came at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, where 5 officials from the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Ministry of Agriculture were detained over claims that they solicited money from travellers arriving in the country. The operation followed a tip-off from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority on November 9 and a review of airport surveillance footage.
The 3 cases are separate, and concern different alleged conduct. At the airport, investigators say officials accepted cash in exchange for allowing some passengers to avoid normal clearance procedures. In the Local Government case, prosecutors allege that ministry employees claimed travel and subsistence payments from both the ministry and local authorities for the same audit work. In the Plumtree case, 2 ZIMRA officers are accused of recording 2 vehicles as having left Zimbabwe when they remained in the country.
At the airport, ZACC named the 5 suspects as Sithabiso Ncube, 47, a detective sergeant with the Zimbabwe Republic Police; Aquisilia Mbira, 40, a detective constable; Norman Chepi, 45, an inspector with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development; and plant health assistants Ratidzo Danda, 48, and Tafadzwa Ngwenya, 44.
The case has drawn attention to activity around arriving passengers and the checks carried out before they leave the airport. The account of the investigation says footage from the ZIMRA Command Centre in Harare showed people suspected of being officials and other airport stakeholders soliciting and receiving money from travellers. The activity was particularly associated with passengers arriving on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
After reviewing the recordings, ZACC and ZIMRA officers went to the airport, identified the 5 people and arrested them. Searches allegedly uncovered money in their handbags and pockets in a range of currencies. The reported cash included US$1,061, 700 Chinese yuan, 10,000 Tanzanian shillings, 60 United Arab Emirates dirhams, R10, five euros, 10,000 Rwandan francs and 1,000 Congolese francs.
The allegations describe a system in which passengers were allegedly given preferential treatment. Investigators say some foreign nationals were allowed to enter without producing required documents or having their luggage subjected to mandatory searches. In return, the officials allegedly demanded and received payments to let them pass through without the usual immigration and border-clearance steps.
The 5 airport suspects are charged with criminal abuse of duty as public officers under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act. They are expected to appear before the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, November 12. The initial tip-off came from ZIMRA on Monday, November 9, when the authority reported that airport personnel were allegedly demanding money from returning residents and visitors.
The allegations at the airport concern the point at which travellers are meant to satisfy entry requirements and have their baggage checked. The named group includes officers from the police and agriculture ministry, while the surveillance review also involved ZIMRA. The case therefore centres on alleged conduct by officials from more than one public body working at the same arrivals area.
A separate case involving 6 officials from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works had already reached court days before the airport arrests. The officials, including Chief Director of Local Authorities Khonzani Ncube, are accused of fraud over travel and subsistence allowances claimed during a nationwide audit of local authorities.
The audit began in April 2025 and covered all 92 local authorities. Under a ministry circular described in court, councils were responsible for the travel and subsistence expenses of officials deployed to conduct the work, while the ministry was to provide transport.
Prosecutors allege that Ncube authorised a request for the ministry to pay travel and subsistence allowances to 54 officials, including herself. The other 5 accused were part of the audit team assigned to Mashonaland East, where the team’s work covered 10 local authorities.
The 5 are Pamela Chitengu, Annah Takaendesa, Sebele Likel, Maxwell Mabhuro and Ruvimbo Chahuruva. They are alleged to have claimed payments from the ministry as well as from the councils for the same assignments. The State says claims were submitted to the ministry for work between May 11 and May 31, 2025, while the team was also receiving allowances, fuel and toll fees from the local authorities.
The accused held distinct posts within the audit team: Chitengu and Takaendesa were administrators, Likel was an accountant, Mabhuro was Mashonaland East provincial director and Chahuruva was a principal administrator. The State’s account describes the five as a team deployed on the same regional audit and says they claimed expenses from both the ministry and councils.
The court allegations further state that the Mashonaland East team spent 40 days in the province between May 12 and June 19, 2025, but claimed allowances for 45 days. Prosecutors say the officials did not disclose to the ministry that the councils had already paid them for the work.
The alleged claims are said to have prejudiced the State by ZiG360,644 and 10 local authorities by US$19,419. Ncube faces an additional charge of criminal abuse of duty. The six appeared in court on November 7. Ncube was granted US$500 bail, while the other five were each granted US$100 bail. The case was remanded to November 24.
The vehicles were later found in Zimbabwe and seized by ZACC investigators at a lodge in Newlands, Harare. The allegation is that the officers’ records falsely showed that the vehicles had left the country, despite both cars remaining inside Zimbabwe. The required inspection procedures were intended to confirm that vehicles presented for exit were physically at the border and matched the relevant documents.
The pair face charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers. Their case is distinct from the airport matter, despite both investigations involving ZIMRA and alleged failures in border controls. At Plumtree, the alleged misconduct concerns the recording and inspection of vehicles leaving the country. At Harare airport, the alleged conduct concerns payments from passengers entering the country and the bypassing of checks.
Taken together, the 3 cases involve 13 people and different stages of public administration: passenger arrivals, local-authority audit expenses and vehicle export procedures. The airport arrests followed the November 9 tip-off and surveillance review. The Local Government arrests took place on November 6, with the accused appearing in court the following day. The Plumtree officers were arrested in connection with the clearance of the 2 vehicles later seized in Harare.
For the airport case, the next listed event is the expected court appearance on November 12. The 6 Local Government officials are due back in court on November 24. In the vehicle case, the central allegation remains that official exit records were completed without the required physical checks and that the 2 vehicles never left Zimbabwe.